From diazo esters with

Functionalized cyclopropenes are viable synthetic intermediates whose applications [99.100] extend to a wide variety of carbocyclic and heterocyclic systems. However, advances in the synthesis of cyclopropenes, particularly through Rh(II) carboxylate—catalyzed decomposition of diazo esters in the presence of alkynes [100-102], has made available an array of stable 3-cyclopropenecarboxylate esters. Previously, copper catalysts provided low to moderate yields of cyclopropenes in reactions of diazo esters with disubstituted acetylenes [103], but the higher temperatures required for these carbenoid reactions often led to thermal or catalytic ring opening and products derived from vinylcarbene intermediates (104-107). 

Alkoxycarbonylmethylenes have also been transferred from dibromoacetic ester with copper as well as from haloacetic esters with Cu20/RNC In the reactions of terminal alkenes, the former reagents give syn-adducts preferentially. The triplet sensitized decomposition of 2-diazopropionic ester in alkenes gives 1-methylcyclopropanecarboxylic esters (equation In contrast, the direct photolysis of the same diazo ester produces... 

The intramolecular reaction of the carbene from diazo ester 280, which contains a 1,3-diene moiety in the ester group and a double bond adjacent to the carbene center, leads to the formation of a substituted 1,2-divinyl-cyclopropane, whose CIS isomer then undergoes a Cope rearrangement to give substituted cycloheptadiene. In such a way, bicyclic 281 and tricyclic 282 y-lactones with a neighboring seven-membered carbocycle have been obtained (89JOC930). 

The oxepino[2,3-d]isoxazol system 408 was prepared in 77% yield from diazo ester 409 and DMAD with a rhodium(II) acetate catalyst. The transient furoisoxazole 410 undergoes 1,5-electrocyclization to a carbene, which yields the final products via reaction with DMAD followed by a series of consecutive transformations (91TL1161). 

In close structural analogy to the semicorrinate ligands of 9, the bidendate, chiral C2-symmetric 5-azasemicorrins 10216 and bis(4,5-dihydrooxazol-2-yl)methane systems li,196 217 12,218 219 12a,197 13,220 and I4197a perform exceptionally well in copper-catalyzed enantioselective cyclo-propanation reactions with diazo esters. With 10, 11, and 12 a, the active catalyst is prepared in situ by adding a catalytic amount of a copper(I) salt with a weakly coordinating anion [copper(I) triflate,196,217,219 copper(I) perchlorate197] to the free ligand with the enolizable system 12 (as well as with 12a and 14) it has been prepared by reaction with copper(I) terh butoxide or from the copper(I) bischelate complex by reduction with phenylhydrazine. 

The use of silyl ethers also provided a good glimpse into the steric effects of the C-H insertion [98], Relative rates were obtained for insertion a to the oxygen atom in silyl protected n-butanol. It was found that the reaction rate increased dramatically as the size of the silyl protecting group decreased, with a 100-fold rate difference between TBDPS and TMS. Complementary steric and electronic effects were observed with the tetralkoxy silane substrates [97,98], hi competition experiments, it was found that the carbenoid derived from diazo ester 99 reacted solely with tetraethoxy silane 123 to form product 126, and not the corresponding tetramethoxy or tetraisopropoxy derivatives 124 or 125 (Scheme 28). Thus, the secondary C-H bonds appear to possess the right balance between steric and electronic requirements for the insertion. 

The catalytic production of olefins, diethyl maleate and fumarate, from ethyl diazoacetate has been reported with osmium [ 149] and ruthenium [ 128] porphyrins. Despite the periodic relationship of ruthenium to iron and osmium and the syntheses of different carbene complexes of ruthenium porphyrins, developed by Collman et al. [125-127], it is only very recently that cyclopropanation [135,171] and ethyl diazoacetate insertion into heteroatom bond reactions [172] were observed using ruthenium porphyrins as catalysts. The details of the catalytic reaction of diazo esters with simple olefins catalyzed with ruthenium porphyrins have been reported [173]. Product yields. 

An ab initio study of the Wolff rearrangement of 1,2-ketocarbene, C6H4O, in the gas phase has been undertaken, and a quantum-chemical investigation of solvent effects on the competition between the Wolff transposition (307) (308) and 1,2-H-shift process (307) (309) in /3-hydroxyketocarbenes has been carried out. It has been found that in the reaction of a-diazo esters with aldehydes in the presence of a stoichiometric amount of trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate, 1,2-nucleophilic rearrangement of the substituent derived from the aldehyde is favoured, resulting in the... 

From Diazo Compounds via 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition. This method has been utilized widely in heterocychc chemistry. Pyrazohne (57) has been synthesized by reaction of ethyl diazoacetate (58) with a,P-unsaturated ester in the presence of pyridine (eq. 12) (42). 

The BF3 Et20-catalyzed aziridination of compounds 47 (Scheme 3.15) with a diazo ester derived from (R)-pantolacetone gave aziridine-2-carboxylates 48 [59]. The reaction exhibited both high cis selectivity (>95 <5) and excellent diastereose-lectivity. Treatment of a-amino nitrile 49 (Scheme 3.16) with ethyl diazoacetate in the presence of 0.5 equivalent of SnCl4 afforded aziridines 50 and 51 in 39% yield in a ratio of 75 25 [60]. 

The starting diazo esters 110 were prepared by diazo transfer from the corresponding malonate esters 109. A selection of chiral Hgands in conjunction with 2mol% (with respect to the diazo compound) of [Cu(OTf)2] in (CH2C1)2 was then examined at 65 °C (Scheme 31). All of the Hgands tested were sufficiently reactive to produce diazo decomposition at 65 °C, although the yields of cyclopropanation products were quite variable. Even tertiary... 

It has been pointed out earlier that the anti/syn ratio of ethyl bicyclo[4.1,0]heptane-7-carboxylate, which arises from cyclohexene and ethyl diazoacetate, in the presence of Cul P(OMe)3 depends on the concentration of the catalyst57). Doyle reported, however, that for most combinations of alkene and catalyst (see Tables 2 and 7) neither concentration of the catalyst (G.5-4.0 mol- %) nor the rate of addition of the diazo ester nor the molar ratio of olefin to diazo ester affected the stereoselectivity. Thus, cyclopropanation of cyclohexene in the presence of copper catalysts seems to be a particular case, and it has been stated that the most appreciable variations of the anti/syn ratio occur in the presence of air, when allylic oxidation of cyclohexene becomes a competing process S9). As the yields for cyclohexene cyclopropanation with copper catalysts [except Cu(OTf)2] are low (Table 2), such variations in stereoselectivity are not very significant in terms of absolute yields anyway. 

Baldwin et al. have used the same catalyst/diazo ester combination for the synthesis of optically active deuterated phenylcyclopropanes (Scheme 28) 197). From cis-1,2-dideuteriostyrene, d/-menthyl a-deuteriodiazoacetate and (+)-195d, the cis- and mnw-cyclopropanes 196 were obtained, both with 90% optical purity. The dominant enantiomer of trans-196 had (+)-(15, IS, 35) configuration. Analogously, the cyclopropanes c -198 and trans-198, obtained from styrene, d/-menthyl a-deuteriodiazoacetate and (+)-195d with subsequent transesterification of cisjtrans-197, had optical purities of 86 and 89%, respectively. The major optical isomer of cis-198 had (IS, 2R) configuration, that of trans-198 (IS, 2S) configuration. 

Use of a chiral diazo ester proved less rewarding in terms of enantioselective cyclopropanation. Only very low enantiomeric excesses were obtained when styrene was cyclopropanated with the carbenoid derived from diazoacetic esters 219 bearing a chiral ester residue 214). 

Reactions of carbenoids with 4-thio-substituted 2-azetidinones have attracted much interest recently. Insertion of the carbene unit derived from diazomalonic esters 297-34°> or ethyl diazo(diethoxyphosphoryl)acetate 340 into the C4—S bond of simple P-lactams 353 and 354 took place irrespective of whether a N—H or a N—R... 

Diazo esters can also be prepared from glycine esters by treatment with nitrous acid [966] or with alkyl nitrites. Further methods include the oxidation of hydrazones, oximes (Forster reaction), and semicarbazones, the base-induced... 

An understanding of the mechanism [10] for rhodium-mediated intramolecular C-H insertion begins with the recognition that these a-diazo carbonyl derivatives can also be seen as stabilized ylides, such as 15 (Scheme 16.4). The catalytic rhodium(II) car-boxylate 16 is Lewis acidic, with vacant coordination sites at the apical positions, as shown. The first step in the mechanism, carbene transfer from the diazo ester to the rhodium, begins with complexation of the electron density at the diazo carbon with an open rhodium coordination site, to give 17. Back-donation of electron density from the proximal rhodium to the carbene carbon, with concomitant loss of N2, then gives the intermediate rhodium carbene complex 18. 

Using this approach, we have successfully predicted the major product from the cyclization of more than 30 a-diazo esters and a-diazo yS-keto esters [15]. Not all rhodium-mediated intramolecular C-H insertion reactions will proceed to give a single dominant diastereomer. Our interest in this initial investigation was to develop a model for the transition state that will allow us to discern those cyclizations that will proceed with high diastereoselectivity. 

We determined the first-order rate constants for the disappearance of diazo ester 34 with the several rhodium] 11) catalysts. The rate of disappearance of the diazo ester 34 upon exposure to each of the catalysts was monitored at 27 1°C, by following the UV absorbance at 2=265 run. The decrease in absorbance of the starting material was plotted versus time. The approximately linear portion of this direct plot, from 80% to 20% of the absorbance, was used to calculate the first-order rate constant for the disappearance of the diazo ester (Tab. 16.4). 

For the cyclization of diazo ester 32 there are four competing diastereomeric chair transition states leading to CH2 insertion products. In the transition state, the Rh-C bond is aligned with the target C-H bond leading to C-C bond formation. The two most stable of these transition states are depicted in Scheme 16.8. The actual product from cyclization is determined as the intermediate carbenoid commits to a particular diastereomeric transition state. If the C-C distance is short at the point of commitment (tight transition state), there will be a substantial steric interaction between the arene and the ester, and 32 b will be disfavored. If the C-C distance is longer, this interaction will not be as severe and more of 32 a will be formed. Thus, it seems reasonable that the ratio of 3 a to 36b is a measure of the C-C bond distance at the point of commitment of the rhodium carbenoid. 

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